Former Essendon coach Brad Scott has confirmed that the Bombers made a staggering $22 million offer to AFL superstar Harley Reid in an attempt to lure him to the club. The extraordinary 10-year deal, worth approximately $2.2 million per season, would have required Essendon to trade away all its draft picks to secure the young gun's services.
Speaking candidly about the proposal made about 18 months ago, Scott acknowledged the 21-year-old's exceptional talent but defended the decision not to pursue the mega-deal. 'Harley's an incredible player, and I don't think Essendon were the only club who were very interested in trying to lure Harley back to Victoria,' Scott said on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters. 'I'm sure every club discussed it. But that was certainly the quantum of what it would have taken. $2.2 million, I think, a year, over 10 years. Yeah, and all your draft picks.'
Scott said the offer did not really spark a feud at the club, but admitted there was internal debate, and he was not keen. 'My view was simply that we're not after a one-player solution,' Scott told The Agenda Setters, adding that throwing all the eggs into the Harley basket was not sustainable for a complete rebuild. Scott also believes his decision was justified, pointing to the young players the club has brought in.
'If we'd done that, for instance, we would have traded all our picks, there'd be no (Nate) Caddy, there'd be no (Isaac) Kako, there'd be no (Dyson) Sharp, (Sullivan) Robey or (Jacob) Farrow. But we'd have Harley,' Scott said. 'And I just didn't think we were at the stage where one player was going to make the difference, as good as he is.'
Scott said in 2023 Essendon had soared to the top four but he knew they were not a top-four side and they 'had a lot of work to do'. 'And at the end of 2023, I was really concerned on a number of fronts that we needed to make significant cultural change, and we needed to make significant list change,' he told The Agenda Setters. 'And when we embarked on that strategy, I was really, I thought, gee, these supporters are going to hate me. They're going to hate me, because it's going to be hard. And we're vulnerable. And we may lose games. But I wanted to embark on a strategy that Essendon hasn't embarked on this century.'
Scott said he knew it was going to be hard but possibly underestimated the magnitude of that challenge. 'I knew the odds of seeing it through were slim, because history says that. And so for me, personally, it was like, the supporters are going to hate this, it's going to be hard,' he said. 'Why would you do this? And the answer was, because it's the right thing to do. And I still believe it's the right thing to do. And in time, when the supporters see these kids come together, Caddy and Kako playing with Roberts and Farrow and Sharpe and Robey, and supporting Durham and Caldwell and all these players, you know, the supporters might look back in time and think, you know, maybe we don't hate you as much now.'
